A couple of months into last year, I started writing down the titles of books as I read them on a page in my planner. I tried to remember everything I had read up until the point I started keeping up, but I may have missed some. I found this list-making very satisfying! I should have been doing this my whole adult life. My last book of last year and what I was reading over Christmas, was The Scarlet Letter (book links are affiliate links) which was not a very seasonal choice! Larkspur was supposed to read it this year for school, so I wanted to refresh myself on it because I hadn’t read it since high school. It’s pretty dark and depressing. Maybe not as much so as Wuthering Heights. What do you think? I decided to spare Larkspur The Scarlet Letter for now.
As last year ended and I looked over my list, I really liked thinking about which books I loved the most and why. And that lead to me thinking about what I’d like to read this year which is pretty exciting! I meant to take a photo of the stack of books that is growing on my desk. I have lots of plans! So far this year I’ve mostly been reading juvenile literature. I read Magic for Marigold and Linnets and Valerians. I loved both but especially recommend Linnets and Valerians.
After reading Rock Crystal last year, I discovered that Adalbert Stifter has a collection of short stories, including Rock Crystal, called Motley Stones. I’ve read the first couple of stories in the book and I’m saving the rest for now. I loved the two that I’ve read so far. My current fiction read is South Moon Under by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the author of one of my favorite books, The Yearling. (I have an old used copy of a book that contains South Moon Under along with excerpts from her other writings.)
I’ve started thinking ahead to Lent, but I’m not sure I am going to add any Lent-specific books to my current spiritual reading pile. I have several that I have been reading slowly for a while and want to focus on them. There are links in my sidebar if you want to check them out.
I was very excited about working on this puzzle but the kids beat me to it. However, they very sweetly saved the final handful of pieces for me.
Jonny’s recent big accomplishment was finishing this gate on our ducks’ area. He fenced it off in 2020 when we got them, but didn’t get beyond a makeshift gate at the time. This new one is so pretty and makes getting in and out a lot easier.
(These are Turkens or “naked neck” chickens.)
We lost one duck last year and are down to these three. They are not friendly but I think they are so pretty! (Their water was clean minutes before this photo was taken. If you have ducks you know how messy they are!)
Witch Hazel!
Mabel loves to have a job to do, particularly if it involves water.
After not knitting for weeks, I knit this fingerless mitt for myself. It felt like such an accomplishment! I almost never have free hands these days, so it was a big deal. (I’ve knit this pattern once before.)
This photo was taken almost two weeks later. I knit the second mitt almost to completion and then realized I had completely left off the thumb. I felt utterly defeated as I ripped it back.
Something I have been making a good bit of is baby food! Everyone is grossed out because I made chicken soup and pureed it for Ambrose (that’s the pink stuff in the photo.) I’ve never before fed a baby pureed meat of any sort, but I’m using this book as a guide and it suggests it. Ambrose is almost seven months old now and he loves to eat. In addition to nursing, he eats three little meals a day, and Beatrix and I enjoy making baby food for him. Beatrix has become quite the kitchen helper these past few months and I am so grateful!
(Mabel’s hair is often out of control because she sleeps with her head under the covers.)
Ambrose goes to sleep with me in my bed each night and then I try to sneak away to get something done or talk with my older kids before going back to bed myself. Sometimes he stays asleep until I return, but he often wakes up crying when he realizes I am gone. The other night Larkspur got in bed with him when he woke up to give me a little more time to finish what I was doing. When I came to bed, I turned on the lamp so I could get a photo of them. They looked so sweet together.
We rearranged my work studio so that I could move my grow lights out of the unfinished part of our basement. Now I won’t have to carry flats as far for watering. I started snapdragon and calendula seeds over the weekend and I can’t wait to have baby plants!
Jonny’s weekend project was to rip out our main level half bath. We are both realizing how challenging it is going to be to get these house projects done in a timely manner, but he’s going to try! The decision making and sourcing of materials is so time consuming that it almost seems impossible that we will get to the installation part. I did decide on tile, and we are hoping that Jonny can install it this week. I ordered a bunch of wallpaper samples and it seems like they are taking forever to get here. When they do arrive, I will take a photo and maybe you guys can help me choose!
Your blog is one of my favorite places to find a little bit of beauty and rest. Thanks so much for all you share!
Thanks for the book recommendations.
I’ve been reading your blog for a little while now and finally decided that I should comment on one of your beautiful posts. When I read that you planted some calendula seeds under your grow lights, it made me want to immediately go plant some in my seed starting area too. Your mittens are lovely! I find your posts inspiring, and thank you for taking some of your precious time to share with us!
I’m in complete agreement with you about skipping The Scarlet Letter. I adored my English classes in high school, and Hawthorne was the one author I couldn’t stand. I devoured everything else, but even today as an adult, I’m no fan of Hawthorne.
Beautiful photos (ducks ARE messy critters!), and lovely knitting. I have knitting to work on myself this weekend- and indeed, I’m not finding myself with empty hands all that often these days, either!
WOW, Adalbert Stifter in U.S.A.! 🙂
He is our “neighbor”, I know his birthplace, He was born in Oberplan in Bohemia, mountains Šumava (now Horní Planá in the Czech Republic). I like his prose, even though it is often sad and tragic as books by the writer Karel Klostermann, also a native of the mountains Šumava.
How could Ambrose already be seven months old? I thought he was about three months old. Where did the time go? I just discovered a new author: Eric Metaxes. A very very good writer. The book is called Is Atheism dead? It proves scientifically in an easy to understand way that God is the creator. I think you and your family would enjoy it.
Thanks for the book recommendations. I just downloaded Linnets and Valerians to my iPad. I prefer a book but am heading south for two months, so no library books for me. I have been keeping a reading log on my computer for many years. I list them by author and rate: 3 stars = recommend 2 stars = enjoyed and 1 star = do not recommend!
Glad to hear from you Ginny, Enjoy your list of books. I keep a journal of the books I read. I add the author and the date. I describe the book and my feelings toward the story. I am almost finished with the tenth book in the Mitford Story: Home To Holly Springs. I am reading children’s books for Saint Valentine’s Day. Love the photos of the children, they are all getting so big,Ambrose,too. God Bless.
Marilyn
I’ve been keeping a booklist since 2006. I love the idea of having it in a pretty journal or something like that, but I ended up just doing it as a word document. I can’t tell you how many times it’s been convenient to do a search to see when was the last time I read something or what books I’ve read by an author.
We’re looking into getting a Berkey. Are you happy with yours? Is it much trouble as far as maintenance?
Oh, that Ambrose is a big boy! Nice work, Mama! I hope you’re starting to feel more like yourself now that he’s getting a little older. Those first months with a newborn – phew! So nice that you have so many willing hands to help you with the new baby and with things around the house.
I can’t wait to watch your flowers grow. You’ve inspired me to start thinking about when we should get our own plants started. I growing season in New Hampshire is just a bit behind yours, so I have a little more time for planning!
Take good care, Ginny!
Hi Ginny;
Thank you for the book suggestions. I read The Scarlet Letter in school and did not care for it. Wuthering Heights I did enjoy. The Life of ST. Bernadette is what I am reading now. I have just finished two mystery books and re-read the Kaya series from American Girl.
Marion
Hi Ginny, Nice to hear from you. I keep a journal of the books I finish. I add a little summary and the author ,illustrator and date I finished the book. I am almost finished with a mystery, A Valentine For One. I have a book about Teddy Roosevelt on my TBR along with two more books, another mystery and an Amish book.
Joan
Ambrose is SO SWEET. I love how much the girls take care of him! Gives me hope for when I have big kids—right now, I have three under four and have another on the way. Your blog is such an encouragement to me while I’m in the midst of diapers and dinners!
The Scarlet Letter is a book I appreciated later, much like Wuthering Heights. I read both of them in high school; it was only later that I really appreciated the power of Wuthering Heights, and the complexity of Scarlet Letter. I will read WH for enjoyment, because sometimes I’m in the mood or something Gothic and eerie, but SL is more “yes, I read it, yes it’s important in American Literature, and maybe in some future time I might read it again.”
I’ve been using Goodreads to track my book but I think I might have to make a list in my planner as well.
When my girls were babies I made baby food exactly as you do. I remember putting pot roast in the blender. Almost everything we ate I pureed for them. Excited for your plants!
Your blog is one of my favorite places to find a little bit of beauty and rest. Thanks so much for all you share!
And I agree with you about the Scarlett Letter. I’m very sensitive when it comes to reading, and find it much too dark to get through.
I have kept a book journal for years. Just in a plain composition book. I started with lists, and over the years it’s evolved into adding a paragraph or two to summarize my thoughts on each book. It’s wonderful to be able to go back and look through for memories and also for recommendations to give to others. 🙂
OH, Ginny, thanks for this little domestic glimpse. It brought me a sense of peace today. I really loved your list of books..so many of them I’ve read and loved so I’m excited to glean a couple more from your list. Thank you. And good luck with the bathroom. We’re still working on our master bathroom having just crossed the 6 month mark (hubby was down with covid for several weeks which didn’t help) and moving plumbing took more time and effort than originally planned. We did a bit of wallpaper too and I love it. It really adds a lot of style. Good luck with the remodel. And I love Johnny’s gate! Beautiful work.
Such a treat on a dreary Monday morning to have a post from Ginny to savor along with my coffee and muffin!
Ambrose is growing so fast and is still the very image of Jonny.
Your book list holds a treasure chest’s worth of old classics – I’ve often though that I’d love to have my high school reading lists so that I could re-read all of them for pleasure.
Confession – I got so excited at first glance because I thought the ice cube trays held “sample size” soaps for your shop and I was ready to order…
Thank you so much for sharing your family with us!
Leslie F
What did you think of 84 Charing Cross Road? I loved the movie so much but have never thought about reading the book.
I loved it! More than the movie. 🙂
I’m really with you on the CC road book. Liked the film, but have re-read the book a number of times. I’m probably due to again. When I’ve walked along the actual road I think of the book.
Thank you for sharing your “small things “ that are truly significant things….
Baby #8 is scheduled for delivery in exactly 3 weeks. And I have not thought beyond making sure the clothes are clean. We have a new shower going in today for our older boys so that all 8 kids will not have to share one bathroom and I am looking forward to a new laundry organization system. Laundry! How have we still not gotten any sort of laundry system?! It always gets pushed to the bottom of the list.
Renovating a whole bathroom sounds fun and exhausting. I love your tile choice. And wallpapaer! So fun! So hard to choose…
You sound like you are in a good place. Lots to look forward to and projects to work on…its all so GOOD.
May peace be with you.
All very busy and productive there Ginny. Have a good week.
How could Ambrose already be seven months old? I thought he was about three months old. Where did the time go? I just discovered a new author: Eric Metaxes. A very very good writer. The book is called Is Atheism dead? It proves scientifically in an easy to understand way that God is the creator. I think you and your family would enjoy it.
I loved Davita’s Harp, The Age of Innocence and Wuthering Heights (yes, really!). I actually read the latter for the second time two weeks ago, and it moved me just as much as the first time around. Sure, it’s dark, but there’s something so powerful about that book…there is something intangible there that just gets to me. I can’t explain it.
But…to each their own :). I’ll check out some of the others you have listed!
Have you considered joining Goodreads? I like to keep track of what I’m reading on there.
Ambrose is such a cute baby. I love his little face! And I already mentioned this on Instagram, but that picture of him and Larkspur is just the BEST. So beautiful.
Other favorite pictures: Mabel’s bedhead, your little cat, and Bea feeding Ambrose.
I may have accidentally listed all photos now…
Have a good week, Ginny!
I read Davita’s Harp and The Age of Innocence at your suggestion and enjoyed them both! As far as Wuthering Heights, I didn’t dislike it and I understand your feelings about it! I find that I need certain type books at different times. Last year was a hard year and dark books weren’t the best for me!
I have friends who use Goodreads too, but for some reason I can’t get away from pen and paper. I like putting everything into my planner and then I save them to refer back to.
I hope you have a good week too!
Linnets and Valerians was a favorite read for me as a YA reader and as an adult. Some children’s books stay with you forever. Have you ever tried the magical worlds of Diana Wynne Jones’s books ? Simply wonderful !! The photo of Bea and Ambrose is so precoius.
Can’t believe that Lent is fast approaching — as to my Lenten reading I have chosen 2 books by C.. S. Lewis and 2 by Miss Read.
Take care,
Judith
I remember pureeing leftover foods from our meals and putting it in the ice cube trays to pull out later for my son. I imagine with your crew you don’t have many leftovers. 🙂